2016 Patriots' Pre-Draft Contacts.

Crazy Patriot Guy said:

Hey captain, will you kindly tell us who you think is the best in the league at drafting?

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The captain is from the Matt Millen school of Draft and his views mirror those MM would be espousing. I'm pretty sure the captain nailed one pick in the late nineties but unfortunately he's been on a horrible streak since Belichick took over the Patriots.

Crazy Patriot Guy said:

Hey captain, will you kindly tell us who you think is the best in the league at drafting?

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Not Bill, that's for damn sure.

captain stone said:

Not Bill, that's for damn sure.

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Well, then who?

captain stone said:

Not Bill, that's for damn sure.

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As Bill himself once said, I don't really care about the other 31 teams.

captain stone said:

As Bill himself once said, I don't really care about the other 31 teams.

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Typical captain troll. Rips Belichick for his drafting but doesn't have the balls to actually name anyone else that is better at drafting because he knows whichever name(s) he give withing 10 minutes someone will refute it and have evidence why it can be argued they are not better than Belichick at drafting.

Actually, I think he's right. We really should only care about the Patriots success in drafting. Now, we all know it's an inexact science, and there will be failures and busts. But what Captain has always been frustrated by is the inexplicable picks -- the ones no one had on their drafts boards, let alone in the second round; or the ones whom we all predicted would bust; or perhaps the ones lacking completely in athleticism and apparent scheme fit, etc. We certainly can judge those picks, and lament that we didn't bring in other contributors with our draft capitol.

That said, we're a few plays away from at least 2 more super bowls victories, and quite probably a few more, so it's hard to be too terribly harsh on this administration. Furthermore, the Patriots have always maintained that the draft is just one part of team-building, and they are always cycling the back end of the roster through free agency, in an attempt to create competition and improve the team. I trust their track record, even if I reserve the right to question or complain at times.

Yeah, we should only care about the Patriots drafts. But we have to be based in reality. We can't complain that Brady's completion percentage isn't 97% but ignore that no one else has one higher than 70%.

And it's not just our picks that are "inexplicable" at times. Look at 2014. Who here had Marcus Smith, Ja'Wuan James, Deone Bucannon and Jimmie Ward all going in the 1st round? Jackson Jeffcoat was at worst a late 3rd round pick in every mock but went undrafted.

That's the point. Drafts never go anything like the mocks. But we still judge our draft by them. And we use selective memory. Tavon Wilson is still a terrible reach because he didn't work out. But people seem to have forgotton that Duron Harmon was just as much of a reach.

Of course we have the right to question picks. But can we please stop demanding 100% success? It will never happen. No team has ever done it. No team will ever do it.

reamer said:

Actually, I think he's right. We really should only care about the Patriots success in drafting. Now, we all know it's an inexact science, and there will be failures and busts. But what Captain has always been frustrated by is the inexplicable picks -- the ones no one had on their drafts boards, let alone in the second round; or the ones whom we all predicted would bust; or perhaps the ones lacking completely in athleticism and apparent scheme fit, etc. We certainly can judge those picks, and lament that we didn't bring in other contributors with our draft capitol.

That said, we're a few plays away from at least 2 more super bowls victories, and quite probably a few more, so it's hard to be too terribly harsh on this administration. Furthermore, the Patriots have always maintained that the draft is just one part of team-building, and they are always cycling the back end of the roster through free agency, in an attempt to create competition and improve the team. I trust their track record, even if I reserve the right to question or complain at times.

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It's one thing to complain, another to exhibit contempt.

reamer said:

Actually, I think he's right. We really should only care about the Patriots success in drafting. Now, we all know it's an inexact science, and there will be failures and busts. But what Captain has always been frustrated by is the inexplicable picks -- the ones no one had on their drafts boards, let alone in the second round

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Ok, but...if you're going to slam "who's-that" reaches, then you have to erase Sebastian Vollmer from your roster history. If you're going to stop taking a chance on major injury risks, then you have to accept that the Baltimore Ravens drafted Rob Gronkowski. If you don't accept tradeoffs like those and look at the total roster that would result from drafting more conventionally, then you're not really arguing against head-scratcher picks at all. You're just advocating batting 1.000.

Remember, draft-day perceptions of how good a Patriots pick is have zero predictive value. In the end, each team has a certain amount of draft capital -- the Patriots far, far less than anyone else -- and the test is what in the aggregate they get out of it.

Updated.

Note: There have been some reports that haven't specified whether they are a private workout or an official visit. I've listed those as either/ors.


Patriots Draft Contacts

OV - Official Visit
PW- Private Workout
CI - Combine Interview
SB - Senior Bowl Contact
U - Unofficial
PD - Possible Pro Day contact

QB

Kevin Hogan, Stanford - SB
Jake Rudock, Michigan - PW


RB

Glenn Gronkowski, Kansas State - SB, CI
Dan Vitale, Northwestern - CI, PD (Caserio)
Alex Collins, Arkansas - CI
Jordan Howard, Indiana - CI
Kelvin Taylor, Florida - CI
Tyler Ervin, San Jose - PW
Chris Swain, Navy - U (Reiss reports we have 'met' with Swain multiple times)
Brandon Wilds, S. Carolina - U (Pauline reports we have 'met' with him)
CJ Prosise, Notre Dame - PD (Ivan Fears)
Daniel Lasco, California - PW
Devontae Booker, Utah - OV
Jonathan Williams, Arkansas - CI, OV
Kenneth Dixon, La. Tech - OV



WR

Leonte Caroo, Rutgers - CI
Pharoh Cooper, S Carolina - CI, OV
Jalin Marshall, Ohio State - CI
Keyarris Garrett, Tulsa - OV
Byron Marshall, Oregon - PW
Michael Thomas, Ohio State - PW
Chris Moore, Cincinnati - PD (Caserio)
Mekale McKay, Cincinnati - PD (Caserio)
Johnny Holton, Cincinnati - PD (Caserio)
Kolby Listenbee, TCU - OV
Devin Fuller, UCLA - PW
Demarcus Ayers, Houston - PW
Cody Core, Ole Miss - PW
Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh - PW
Amir Carlisle, Notre Dame - PW
Leonte Carroo, Rutgers - OV
Marquez North, Tennessee - PW
Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia - OV
Keenan Reynolds, Navy - PW (BB plus others)
Alonzo Russell, Toledo - PW
Jay Lee, Baylor - PW
Moritz Boehringer, Germany - PW
Devin Lucien, Arizona State - PW
Roger Lewis, Bowling Green - OV or PW





TE

David Morgan III, Texas-San Antonio - PW
Stephen Anderson, California - PW
Ben Brauenecker, Harvard - PW
Bryce Williams, E Carolina - PW, OV
Nick Vannett - OV or PW



OL

Cole Toner, Harvard - U, PD
Kyle Murphy, Stanford - SB, U
Joe Haeg, N Dakota State - SB
Jerald Hawkins, LSU - CI, PD (Dante)
Brandon Shell, S Carolina - CI
Vadal Alexander, LSU - PD (Dante)
Damian Love, Alabama State - PW
Torian White, Hampton - U (Reported interest)
Evan Boehm, Missouri - PD (Dante)
Connor McGovern, Missouri - PD (Dante)
John Theus, Georgia - PD
Spencer Drango, Baylor - U (Unclear what the contact is)
Landon Turner, PD (Dante)
David Hedelin, Purdue - PW (Dante?)
Joe Dahl, Washington St., PW
Shon Coleman, Auburn - OV
Clay DeBord, EWU - PW or OV




DL

Chris Jones, Miss St. - CI
Jonathan Bullard, Florida - CI, PW or OV
Austin Johnson, Penn State - CI
Jihad Ward, Illinois - CI
Hassan Ridgeway, Texas - CI
Sterling Bailey, Georgia - PD (Belichick, Patricia)
Willie Henry, Michigan - PD (DL Coach?)
Vernon Butler, La Tech - PW
Bronson Kafusi, BYU - PW or OV
Pat McNeil, Middle Tenessee - PW






LB

Kentrell Brothers, Missouri - SB
Jordan Jenkins, Georgia - CI, PW or OV
Kamalei Correa, Boise St. - CI
Dadi Nicholas, Virginia Tech - CI, PW (DL coach)
Yannick Ngakoue, Maryland - CI
Alex McCalister, Florida - CI
Su'a Cravens, USC - CI
CJ Johnson, Ole Miss - CI
De'Vondre Cambell, Minnesota - PD
Theirin ****ran, Minnesota - PD
Dillon Lee, Alabama - PD(Belichick)
Reggie Ragland, Alabama - PD (Belichick)
Stephen Weatherly, Vanderbilt - PD (Caserio)?
Desmond Morgan, Michigan - PD
Steven Daniels, Boston College - OV
Shaq Petteway, WVU - PW


CB

Will Redmond, Mississippi State - CI
Xavien Howard, Baylor - CI
DJ White, Georgia Tech - CI
James Bradberry, Samford - CI
Blake Countess, Auburn - PD
Ryan Smith, N. Carolina State - PW
Cyrus Jones, Alabama - PD (Belichick?), PW
Sean Davis, Maryland - PW (Belichick)
Kalan Reed, S. Miss - PW (Caserio)
Taveze Calhoun, Miss St. - OV




S

Deon Bush, Miami
Miles Killebrew, S. Utah - PW or OV
Elijah Shumate, Notre Dame - OV
DJ Hunter, Marshall - PW
Kevin Byard, Middle Tennessee St. - PW
Justin Simmons, Boston College - OV




Specialist

That's as up to date as I can make it.

We get 30 official visits. Here's what I've got. The one's in italics were either an OV or PW. It wasn't specified which.


RB
Devontae Booker
Jonathan Williams
Kenneth Dixon

WR
Keyarris Garrett
Pharoh Cooper
Kolby Listenbee
Leonte Carroo
Malcolm Mitchell
Roger Lewis

TE
Bryce Williams
Nick Vannett


OL
Shon Coleman
Clay DeBord

DL
Jonathan Bullard
Bronson Kaufusi

LB
Jordan Jenkins
Steven Daniels

CB
Taveze Calhoun

S
Miles Killebrew
Elijah Shumate
Justin Simmons

That's only 21 out of the 30. It should also be noted that Steven Daniels and Justin Simmons probably don't count as part of the 30 because teams are allowed to have local players visit without them counting as part of the 30.

But basically, there's a lot of stuff we don't know.

Crazy Patriot Guy said:

Yeah, we should only care about the Patriots drafts. But we have to be based in reality. We can't complain that Brady's completion percentage isn't 97% but ignore that no one else has one higher than 70%.

And it's not just our picks that are "inexplicable" at times. Look at 2014. Who here had Marcus Smith, Ja'Wuan James, Deone Bucannon and Jimmie Ward all going in the 1st round? Jackson Jeffcoat was at worst a late 3rd round pick in every mock but went undrafted.

That's the point. Drafts never go anything like the mocks. But we still judge our draft by them. And we use selective memory. Tavon Wilson is still a terrible reach because he didn't work out. But people seem to have forgotton that Duron Harmon was just as much of a reach.

Of course we have the right to question picks. But can we please stop demanding 100% success? It will never happen. No team has ever done it. No team will ever do it.

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as @patchick(?) Noted once, even hitting on your first 4 picks seems all but impossible.

@manxman2601: teams can't fly a player in for a PW.

manxman2601 said:

We get 30 official visits. Here's what I've got. The one's in italics were either an OV or PW. It wasn't specified which.


RB
Devontae Booker
Jonathan Williams
Kenneth Dixon

WR
Keyarris Garrett
Pharoh Cooper
Kolby Listenbee
Leonte Carroo
Malcolm Mitchell
Roger Lewis

TE
Bryce Williams
Nick Vannett


OL
Shon Coleman
Clay DeBord

DL
Jonathan Bullard
Bronson Kaufusi

LB
Jordan Jenkins
Steven Daniels

CB
Taveze Calhoun

S
Miles Killebrew
Elijah Shumate
Justin Simmons

That's only 21 out of the 30. It should also be noted that Steven Daniels and Justin Simmons probably don't count as part of the 30 because teams are allowed to have local players visit without them counting as part of the 30.

But basically, there's a lot of stuff we don't know.

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Looking at this list, we appear interested in wr, s and rb.

Oddly, we are not overly interested in d line and o line.

ctpatsfan77 said:

@manxman2601: teams can't fly a player in for a PW.

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I haven't suggested that they have. When I've quoted something as either an official visit or a private workout, it's because the source on twitter hasn't specified whether the Pats have conducted a workout or had the player visit.

Ochmed Jones said:

Looking at this list, we appear interested in wr, s and rb.

Oddly, we are not overly interested in d line and o line.

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We are if you take into account the totality of their pre-draft interactions.

Ochmed Jones said:

Looking at this list, we appear interested in wr, s and rb.

Oddly, we are not overly interested in d line and o line.

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Yeah, I'm disappointed that there's been no non-combine contact with any of LeRaven Clark, Cody Whitehair or Christian Westerman.

captain stone said:

Yeah, I'm disappointed that there's been no non-combine contact with any of LeRaven Clark, Cody Whitehair or Christian Westerman.

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Yeah but hasn't it been common for us to draft players that weren't post-combine contacts?

Add Auburn CB Jonathan Jones to the official visit list.